The Valparaiso University men’s golf team returned to action on Friday for the first 18 holes of the Air Force Falcon Invitational, held at Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs, Colo. Freshman Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) led the way with a first-round score of 72, shooting even par.

How It Happened

As a team, Valpo finished the day tied for 12th of 18 with an 18-hole score of 296 (+8). The team is even with Missouri Valley Conference foe Drake with Texas State also involved in the tie. Host Air Force leads the way through one round at 279. Wyoming’s Carl Underwood led all individuals with his 65 in Round 1.

VanArragon followed his Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Week award by again leading the team in Day 1 of the event. The Valpo freshman enters Day 2 tied for 19th in the 104-player field.

Jack Juskow (Greenville, S.C. / Hamilton Southeastern) was second among Valpo golfers, carding a 73 (+1) to finish the day at t-31.

Sophomore Garrett Willis (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Homestead) carded a 74 (+2) in the opening round of the event. He is tied for 43rd overall.

Inside the Round

Valpo racked up 59 pars, the second-most of the 18 participating teams. Utah State had the most pars in the field with a 60.

Valpo performed well on Par 4 holes, posting a 4.12 average, the fourth-best among participating teams.

The team had nine birdies in the round, led by VanArragon’s three.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“Our ball-striking was very solid today, with the guys hitting a lot of fairways and greens in regulation. When we missed the greens in regulation, the chipping around the greens was pretty decent. Our struggles today were with the speed of the greens and simply getting the putts to drop. The greens were really running fast and true, so we need to improve on our reads and be better with the speed of our putts tomorrow.”

“Playing at a completely different elevation here in the mountains of Colorado Springs has been an adjustment for us with our distances in approaches to the greens. I feel the guys have done a great job of selecting the correct clubs in their approach shots along with taking into consideration the wind direction. The guys are playing smart and their course management today was really good.”

“Caleb, Garrett and Jack were all steady and solid for us today. They never put themselves in poor situations and their course management with all of the elevation numbers to consider and wind was excellent.”

Up Next

The 18-team, 54-hole event will continue on Saturday. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.